Facebook knows more about you than perhaps even your closest friends. It knows when you’re sad, when you’re aimlessly scrolling, and can fathom a good guess at what you’ll want to buy.
For those who haven’t noticed, your Facebook timeline is no longer just an innocent feed of what your friends are saying. It’s a cleverly executed order of posts that are intended to make you engage with brands.
More than one billion people use it monthly. Give yourself a moment to let that sink in. It’s no surprise that as Facebook has grown it’s become smarter at showing you adverts, and more and more companies are using it to engage with potential clients.
Really, we should be wondering why more people don’t advertise their properties through Facebook. As a rough example, £1 would probably show your advert to 1,000 people. Not only is it cheap, but you can target audiences so specifically that even Skynet would be jealous. But is it effective for advertising properties?
I don’t think social media will ever be a sustainable place to advertise properties, and the best way I can explain this is through a metaphor. Please bear with me.
Facebook is a party, and everyone’s been invited. Initially, only a few people turned up, and they told their friends, who invited their friends, and soon a million people were there. This is when Facebook checked the bill and realised they need to start making some money to pay for the venue. So they started letting business in. These companies would approach groups of friends and tentatively start talking about their brands. Most people just walked away, but a few stayed, and one or two ended up buying some new shoes.
Now we’re at a billion people, and almost every successful brand you can think of is at this party. There’s Nandos in the corner just throwing vouchers at people and The Lad Bible has hundreds of cute dogs dancing in time to music.
Then you come along to try and let a modest three-bedroom flat. It’s functional, but nothing special. You’ve got a picture of a cramped kitchen taken in poor lighting, and you’re there trying to get people’s attention over the bright lights and free offers.
Have you noticed how much clickbait is on your timeline these days? That’s because the party has become so noisy and we’re having to shout just to talk to our friends.
In another room is Rightmove and Zoopla, and it’s relatively silent. Sure, you can hear the bass thumping from Facebook through the wall, but your cramped kitchen doesn’t look so bad as it’s shown right next to hundreds of other cramped kitchens.
On Facebook you’re in the realm of ‘free holidays’ and ‘tips to become a billionaire’. Here though, the expectations are lower, and you have people’s attention.
I expect a few of you to disagree strongly with me. Perhaps you’ve had real success with Facebook and have a few examples to prove me wrong.
But here’s the bottom line: you can advertise for as little as £1 on Facebook, but really, is it worth it?
* Peter Ramsey is founder of Movem, a review-driven property portal that aims to connect the best tenants, landlords and agents.
You’re assuming here that agents can only run adverts that push a specific property. Of course, that’s what Rightmove is for and people don’t want that in their newsfeed as they’re unlikely to be in the market to buy/let at that specific moment.
If your main marketing message is to shout about a property with a cramped kitchen then it probably needs a rethink!
Where Facebook can be appropriate, and more relevant to the user, is for more brand focussed marketing. Sharing useful video content about the area, a helpful blog post, running local competitions. All these things are relevant and I don’t mind them interrupting my timeline if they’re of use to me. Most of the above can be done for free and if it’s useful and valuable enough, people will follow your business – costing you very little.
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Hi Steve
You’re absolutely right, it’s more for brand marketing. My point in this all is that you can share videos/run competitions/helpful blogs, but social media will never be sufficient for actually letting properties. Well, at least without Facebook / Twitter launching some huge changes.
I also think there’s something to be said about the idea of paying money for people to follow you online. In property rentals, there’s a very specific time when someone is looking to rent. Are people seeing your brand, and then 18 months later remembering you, then coming to book a property through you?
I’d argue not, and that paid promotion on social media isn’t as valuable in this industry as you may believe.
Peter
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The effectiveness of any social advertising is more to do with messaging and targeting than the channel itself. For example, a tracking pixel on your website’s vendor or landlord proposition pages can help you deliver targeted ads to convert valuations relatively inexpensively by retargeting those who have already shown an interest.
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Hi Dan
Yeah, you’re right, pixels really do help. Admittedly I didn’t touch on retargeting here. My point above was more directed at ‘social media managers’ who just think that ‘being on facebook’ is enough.
Peter
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“Opinion: Why I don’t think agents should bother with Facebook”.
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Oh come on…
Social Media, especially Facebook, is about brand awareness! It’s good for that and that alone!
If, in the process, you get a lead that sells or lets a flat with a cramped kitchen picture then that’s a bonus!
(why you’d use that in your brand awareness advertising is questionable though!)
The consumer searches for property primarily on Rightmove & Zoopla! Why wouldn’t they? An almost one stop shop….
Silly article! Obviously no news or free promotional advertising for Purple Bricks today!!
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HI Richard
Facebook have done a great job at selling advertising, and I know it’s completely off-trend to suggest that it’s a waste of time. Actually, to clarify, I don’t think paid social media is a waste of time in general, but trying to attract tenants with it is.
Brand awareness may help you with landlords. They may see your brand around, and then later follow up with your services. That I totally agree with.
But actually letting properties to tenants? Facebook can’t (yet) target people actively looking for properties. So companies scattergun brand awareness at ‘people likely to be tenants’, with blogs about renting. Do you really think they see your brand, 18 months later look for a property and come straight to you first? No chance.
Brand awareness is so expensive, that if you’re spending enough money to actually be remembered through facebook blogs, then you’ve either gone viral, or you’re spending money in the wrong places.
Admittedly I didn’t scratch the surface of retargeting, which DOES make a real difference.
Peter
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“Why I don’t think agents should bother with social media”
” I don’t think paid social media is a waste of time”
“retargeting …. DOES make a real difference”
Are you err… all there?
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If you’re going to quote me, at least use the full quote…
” Actually, to clarify, I don’t think paid social media is a waste of time in general, but trying to attract tenants with it is.”
Also, retargetting does make a difference, but because it’s difficult to do right, most people don’t do it. In that case, I don’t think they should bother with paid social advertising at all.
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And yet your headline clearly states “I don’t think agents should bother with social media” – perhaps you should be qualifying yourself in the article rather than in the comments?
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I agree, Facebook does not help sell or let properties, and in our experience the individuals you find is any are not quality buyers or tenants.
However. I do not think there is a more powerful tool than Facebook for brand awareness on a local scale for businesses. Good content with informative and interacting posts can be worth a fortune.
Agents need to stop posting “Look how many properties we have” or “Amazing new instruction” – FB viewers do not care. We recently ran a competition that had over 5000 entries a good number of these liked our page and we can drip feed our message to them.
The old saying “Boards breed Boards” is still true but FB eclipses that in my opinion.
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PeterRamsey46
I wasn’t suggesting that you just use social media to raise brand awareness! I was just suggesting that’s all I believe it offers. Other than being a means of communication to resolve disputes or occasionally to compliment your business of course!!
It is all about getting the consumer to remember your brand whenever it is they think about buying/selling or letting as tenants or landlords whenever that occurs!
Just my opinion!
Cheers
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There’s more to social media than Facebook!
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To be fair, I’d argue this case for all social media platforms just the same.
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Don’t tell Mr Smith he has staked the GDP of a small country at Haart on doing just what you say don’t!
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I lost a Like today 🙁
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